UC-NRLF 


B    M    bl3    h3'=l 


No.  :il 


The  Rev.  Jonas  Clark,  Pastor   at 

Lexington,  Leader  in 

Revolutionary 

Thought 


''Steadfast  for  God  and  Country 


An  Address  by 

THEODORE  GILMAN 

Governor  of  the  New  York  Society 

delivered  before 

The  New  York  Scciety 

of  the 

Order  of  the  Founders  and  Patriots  cf  America 

at    the 

Hotel  Manhattan,  New  York 
October  19th,  1911 


•  , .  •  •  •  >  • 

•  •  «  *  *    * 


»  «  •.' 


Officers  of  the  New  York  Society  Order  of  the 

Founders  and  Patriots  of  America 

1911-1912 


Governor 

THEODORE  OILMAN, 

55  William  Street,  New  York. 

Deputy  Governor 

EDGAR  ABEL  TURRELL, 

76  William  Street,  New  York. 

Chaplain 

REV.  LYMAN  M.  GREEMAN, 

68  Clinton  Ave.,  New  Brighton,  S.  L,  N.  Y. 

Secretary 
WILLIAM  EDWARD  FITCH,  M.  D. 

355  W.  145th  Street,  New  York. 

Treasurer 

MATTHEW  HINMAN, 

416    Broadway,    New   York. 

State  Attorney 

GOODWIN    BROWN 

135    Broadway,    New   York. 

Registrar 
JOHN    C.    COLEMAN, 
100  Broadway,   New  York. 

Genealogist 

JOHN    ELDERKIN, 

110  W.  57th  Street,   New  York. 

Historian 

REAR  ADMIRAL  EBENEZER  S.  PRIME,  U.  S.  N., 

Huntington,  Long  Island. 

Councillors 

1909-12 

MAJ.  GEN.  FREDERICK  D.  GRANT,  U.  S.  A. 

HOWARD  KING  COOLIDGE. 

THOMAS  REDFIELD  PROCTOR. 

1910-13 

REV.  EDWARD  PAYSON  JOHNSON,  D.  D. 

THEODORE  FITCH. 

COL.  GEORGE  E.  DEWEY. 

1911-14 
COL.  RALPH  EARL  PRIME. 
GEORGE  CLINTON  BATCHELLOR,  L.  L.  D. 
LOUIS  ANNIN  AMES. 

M14.5769 


4t 


MtaUait  for  #ot  anti  Country" 


REV.  JONAS  CLARK,  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Lex- 
ington during  the  Revolution,  Leader  of  Revolution- 
ary Thought. 

BY 

THEODORE  OILMAN 

HE  flames  of  the  Revolutionary  War  burst  out  quickly. 
There  was  rejoicing  throughout  the  colonies  when  the 
French  and  Indian  war  was  closed  triumphantly  and 
the  French  had  lost  all  claims  to  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
It  was  a  proud  boast  of  the  colonists  to  be  a  part  of  the  power 
which  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  in  1763  had  come  to  the  front  as 
the  greatest  nation  of  the  world.  They  felt  that  they  were  as. 
truly  English  as  if  they  had  been  born  in  the  home-land  and 
they  claimed  that  they  possessed  by  birth  right  all  the  privileges 
which  appertained  to  a  loyal  subject  of  the  King. 

The  colonists  always  disclaimed  any  intention  to  turn  the 
colonies  over  to  the  French  or  the  Spanish  or  the  Dutch.  They 
joined  eagerly  with  British  soldiers  in  the  wars  to  resist  the  en- 
croachments of  France.  The  French  emissaries  from  Canada  to 
New  England  met  with  no  encouragement  in  their  efforts  to 
foment  trouble  with  England. 

The  colonists  aided  in  the  capture  of  Louisburgh  and  Que- 
bec. After  a  century  of  struggle  with  France  they  rejoiced 
when  all  that  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River  came  under  the  rule  of  England.  Then  by 
the  peace  of  1763,  at  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  War, 
England  owned  from  the  arctic  circle  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico  and 
France  was  left  with  no  remnant  of  the  vast  empire  which  for 
over  one  hundred  years  she  had  struggled  and  fought  to  retain. 
The  French  had  claimed  the  entire  continent  and  at  last  were 
left  without  a  foothold  thereon. 

Hildreth  says,  in  commenting  on  this  war:  "The  present 
contest  for  territorial  and  commercial  supremacy,  had  extended 
even  to  the  East  Indies,  thus  as  it  were  encircling  the  globe. 
The  twenty  years'  struggle  in  Hindoostan  between  French  and 


English, Egist   Incfigic .Companies,   had  ended   in   the  complete 
triiwnph'ot  thft  piigli^h." 

It  was  not  only  the  two  nations  which  were  engaged  in  this 
world-wide  warfare  for  the  possession  of  the  East  India  trade 
and  for  the  ownership  of  this  continent.  It  was  two  opposing 
civilizations,  two  antagonistic  religions,  two  races.  The  contest 
was  not  only  military,  it  was  ethnic.  Democracy  confronted 
Feudalism;  Protestantism,  Romanism;  Ministers,  Priests;  the 
Word  of  God,  the  Edicts  of  the  Pope.  Rev.  Thomas  Foxcroft 
who  died  in  1769,  said:  *'We  could  hope  for  no  lasting  peace 
until  Canada  was  conquered."  N.  Appleton  of  Cambridge  at 
the  same  time  hailed  the  peace  as  the  dawn  of  a  new  era. 

The  skies  were  clear  and  invigorating,  but  the  very  joy- 
ousness  of  the  times  was  a  weather  breeder.  Soon  a  dark  cloud 
of  disagreement  and  discord  overshadowed  the  land  for  when  the 
conflict  with  the  French  and  Indians  ended,  a  struggle  with  the 
Mother  Country  began.  In  eleven  short  years,  from  1764  to 
1775,  the  words  Mother  Country  were  replaced  by  our  tyrant 
oppressors  who  are  seeking  to  enslave  us.  The  feeling  of  af- 
fection for  the  homeland  was  changed  to  bitter  indignation  and 
anger. 

The  causes  of  this  revulsion  of  feeling  lie  on  the  surface. 
George  the  Third  came  to  the  throne  in  1760.  Lord  Bute  as 
Prime  Minister  and  Granville  at  first  as  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer and  afterwards  as  Prime  Minister,  with  the  tories  be- 
hind them,  succeeded  to  the  rule  of  Pitt,  the  representative  of 
the  people,  and  the  whigs,  both  of  whom  were  offensive  to  the 
king.  Success  had  intoxicated  the  ruling  powers.  Peace  was 
proclaimed  February  11th,  1763,  and  on  October  7th,  1763,  only 
eight  months  afterwards,  a  royal  proclamation  was  issued, 
beginning  the  new  movement  for  the  oppression  of  the  colonies, 
the  opening  phrase  of  which  said:  "Whereas  we  have  taken 
into  our  royal  consideration  the  extensive  and  valuable  ac- 
quisitions to  our  country  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris,"  etc.  In  the 
next  year  all  disguises  were  thrown  aside  and  a  resolution  was 
adopted  by  Parliament  containing  in  its  preamble  these  epoch- 
making  words:  "Whereas  it  is  expedient  that  new  provisions 
and  regulations  should  be  established  for  improving  the  revenue 
of  the  kingdom  and  for  extending  and  securing  the  navigation 
and  commerce  between  Great  Britain  and  your  Majesty's 
dominions  in  America,  which  by  the  peace  have  been  so  happily 
enlarged,  and  whereas  it  is  just  and  necessary  that  a  revenue  be 

4 


raised  in  our  Majesty's  said  dominions  in  America,  for  defraying 
the  expenses  of  defending  the  same,"  etc.  After  this  plain 
announcement  of  the  poHcy  of  parHament,  there  followed  in  quick 
succession  the  Acts  designed  to  carry  this  purpose  into  effect. 
In  a  few  months  was  passed  the  Sugar  Act  of  April  5th,  1764, 
then  the  Stamp  Act  of  March  22nd,  1765,  then  the  Quartering 
Act  of  the  same  year,  then  the  Revenue  Act  of  June  29th,  1767. 
To  complete  the  list  of  obnoxious  parliamentary  acts,  there  was 
the  Massachusetts  Government  Act  of  May  20th,  1774,  which 
repealed  those  parts  of  the  Charter  granted  by  William  and  Mary 
which  empowered  the  colony  to  elect  its  Governor  and  other 
officers,  which  officers  after  the  1st  of  August,  1774,  were  to  be 
appointed  by  his  Majesty  to  hold  office  during  his  pleasure. 
Also  the  power  was  given  to  the  Governor  to  appoint  and  remove 
all  judges  and  it  was  provided  that  no  meeting  of  electors  should 
be  called  without  the  leave  of  the  Governor. 

For  160  years  the  colonies  from  Massachusetts  to  Virginia, 
by  virtue  of  their  original  charters,  had  been  free  to  call  meetings 
of  electors  to  consider  matters  of  common  interest,  and  had  en- 
joyed many  privileges  which  were  taken  away  by  these  acts  of 
Parliament  passed  in  quick  succession  in  a  few  short  years.  It 
was  a  rude  awakening  to  the  colonists  to  find  all  semblance  of 
self-government  taken  from  them  and  heavy  taxes  imposed  for 
the  benefit  of  the  home  government.  James  Otis  who  was  des- 
cribed by  Samuel  Adams  as  "a  flame  of  fire"  declaimed  against 
the  injustice  of  these  proceedings  and  in  describing  the  situation 
said:  "We  cannot  see  the  equity  of  our  being  obliged  to  pay 
off  a  score  that  had  been  so  much  enhanced  by  bribes  and  pen- 
sions to  keep  those  to  their  duty  who  ought  to  have  been  bound 
by  honor  and  conscience." 

These  parliamentary  acts  were  born  of  cupidity.  The 
theory  on  which  they  were  supported  was  that  Parliament  had 
power  to  pass  such  laws  as  it  pleased  for  the  government  of  the 
colonies.  The  motive  was,  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils. 
All  restraints  on  the  Tory  party  had  been  removed  by  the  favor- 
able ending  of  the  war.  The  prize  of  the  continent  of  America 
was  in  the  hands  of  England  and  there  was  no  longer  any  danger 
of  its  loss  or  capture  by  another  power.  The  ownership  was 
undisputed,  their  control  was  absolute,  parliament  was  supreme. 
The  home  government  in  the  hands  of  the  tories,  refused  to 
listen  to  the  wise  counsels  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  Edmund 
Burke,  Adam  Smith,  Col.  Barre,  Lord  Camden,  General  Conway 


and  others,  which,  if  they  had  been  followed,  would  have  saved 
the  colonies  to  England. 

When  in  Parliament.  Townshend,  one  of  the  ministers, 
spoke  of  the  colonists  as  "children  planted  by  our  care,  nourished 
by  our  indulgence,  and  protected  by  our  arms,"  Barre  indig- 
nantly replied:  "They  planted  by  your  care?  No.  Your 
oppressions  planted  them  in  America.  They  nourished  by  your 
indulgence?  They  grew  up  by  your  neglect  of  them.  They 
protected  by  your  arms?  Those  sons  of  liberty  have  nobly 
taken  up  arms  in  your  defence." 

The  opportunity  to  extort  a  revenue  from  the  colonies  was 
irresistible  to  men  like  Granville,  and  they  captured  the  public 
sentiment  of  England  by  their  specious  arguments.  When 
Granville  introduced  the  Stamp  Act  in  Parliament,  he  rashly  but 
truthfully  said:     "It  was  an  experiment  towards  further  aid." 

To  carry  out  the  plans  of  Parliament  General  Gage  was 
appointed  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  with  headquarters  at 
Boston  and  British  troops  were  concentrated  there  to  enforce 
his  commands.  When  the  soldiers  of  the  King  shot  to  kill  at 
Lexington,  April  19th,  1775,  a  responsive  thrill  of  indignation 
and  anger  brought  the  colonies  from  Maine  to  Virginia  to  a 
realization  that  a  contest  was  inevitable. 

The  sight  of  their  brothers  blood  was  sufficient  cause  for 
resistance.  The  appreciation  that  their  rights  were  being  in- 
vaded was  a  call  to  defend  those  rights.  The  sordid  policy  of 
the  King  and  Parliament  which  sought  to  extort  a  revenue  from 
colonists  who  were  struggling  for  a  bare  existence  in  a  land  where 
Nature  was  first  to  be  subdued  before  it  could  be  made  productive, 
exasperated  the  men  who  were  already  under  the  harrow. 
Taxation  without  representation  was  an  insufferable  affront  to 
the  manhood  of  the  colonists.  Oppression  reaches  at  last  the 
point  where  the  explosive  powers  must  have  a  vent.  Violence 
at  last  revealed  the  stony  heart  of  a  power  whose  only  thought 
was  to  strike  down  opposition  and  to  conquer  by  main  strength, 
without  listening  to  appeals  for  justice  or  arguments  on  the 
merits  of  the  controversy. 

A  side  light  is  thrown  on  the  situation  by  a  letter  quoted  by 
Parkman,  written  by  Pontchartrain  to  Vandreuil,  in  which  the  for- 
mer says:  "Mons.  de  Costabelle  has  informed  me  that  the  chief 
object  of  the  armament  last  year  by  the  English,  was  to  establish 
their  sovereignty  at  Boston  and  New  York,  the  people  of  these 
provinces  having  always  maintained  a  sort  of  republic  governed 


by  their  council,  and  being  unwilling  to  receive  absolute  governors 
from  the  Kings  of  England." 

These  causes  awakened  the  oratory  of  Patrick  Henry,  but 
something  more  than  feeling,  somethng  more  than  indignation 
was  needed  to  form  the  basis  of  a  struggle  which  was  to  go  on  for 
years  and  be  protracted  with  wearisome  painfulness  against 
superior  forces  and  in  the  face  of  recurring  defeats.  That  some- 
thing more  was  to  be  imparted  by  the  thinkers  of  the  Revolution, 
by  men  whose  conviction  of  the  end  to  be  attained  by  the  struggle 
was  founded  not  on  effervescent  feelings  of  anger  or  exasperation, 
but  on  the  eternal  and  fundamental  principles  of  the  rights  and 
duties  of  man. 

To  the  ministers  of  the  colonies  must  be  accorded  the  first 
place  among  the  leaders  who  guided  and  inspired  the  revolution- 
ary thought  of  those  times,  and  placed  it  on  the  enduring  basis 
of  truth,  righteousness  and  justice.  They  upheld  Washington's 
hands,  they  preached  on  battlefields  and  accompanied  the  troops 
on  their  long  marches.  There  was  David  Jones,  of  Chester, 
Pennsylvania,  for  whose  arrest  Gen.  Howe  offered  a  reward, 
He  was  chaplain  from  Ticonderoga  to  Yorktown,  was  Chaplain 
again  with  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne  in  his  campaign  against  the 
indians,  and  in  the  war  of  1812,  though  he  was  then  76  years  old, 
served  as  Chaplain  till  peace  was  declared.  What  shall  I  say  of 
Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
the  Muhlenburgs,  father  and  three  sons.  Dr.  Naphtali  Daggett, 
President  of  Yale  College,  who  went  after  the  British  on  his 
old  black  mare  with  his  fowling  piece  in  his  hands,  or  Archibald 
Scott,  William  Graham  and  John  Brown,  three  Presbyterian 
clergymen,  who  when  a  raid  by  Tarleton  was  expected  in  the 
valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  Virginia,  called  the  striplings  and  old 
men  together,  for  all  the  other  men  were  already  at  the  front, 
and  after  prayers,  marshalled  them  to  defend  their  homes. 
Hearing  of  this  exhibition  of  valor  and  patriotism,  Washington 
used  these  memorable  words:  "If  I  should  be  beaten  by  the 
British,  I  will  retreat  with  my  broken  army  to  the  Blue  Ridge, 
and  call  the  boys  of  West  Augusta  around  me  and  there  I  will 
plant  the  flag  of  my  country." 

It  is  an  alluring  task  to  recount  the  names  of  these  patriots. 
But  we  must  refrain,  for  we  wish  to  restrict  ourselves  to  honor 
here  this  evening,  one  who  is  pre-eminent  among  these  leaders 
and  thinkers,  the  Rev.  Jonas  Clark  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Lexington,  Massachusetts,  for  fifty  years.     His  place  was  not 


on  the  battlefield,  but  he  nerved  the  arms  of  the  fighters,  he  in- 
formed the  minds  of  legislators  and  he  unfolded  the  principles 
of  equity  and  righteousness  on  which  the  contest  for  independence 
was  based.  Jonas  Clark,  the  revolutionary  pastor  and  thinker, 
was  a  man  whose  mental  powers  should  place  him  in  line  with 
Locke,  Rousseau  and  Jefferson,  and  whose  influence  on  the 
destinies  of  the  republic  was  felt  by  John  Hancock  Samuel 
Adams,  and  the  Legislature  and  people  of  Massachusetts  as  well 
as  by  the  men  of  Lexington  who  were  the  heroes  of  the  19th  of 
April,  1775. 

The  printed  record  of  Rev.  Jonas  Clark's  thought  begins 
with  his  draft  of  instructions  in  regard  to  the  Stamp  Act,  ad- 
dressed to  William  Reed,  the  representative  of  Lexington  in 
the  Council  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts.  These  instructions 
were  adopted  at  a  town  meeting  the  21st  of  October,  1765.  His 
thought  reaches  a  higher  level  in  his  sermon  before  the  Ancient 
and  Honorable  Artillery  Company  of  Boston,  at  their  annual 
election,  June  6th,  1768.  It  develops  in  the  various  state  papers 
on  the  town  records  of  Lexington,  grows  more  intense  as  the 
combat  deepens,  and  reaches  its  climax  in  his  Election  Sermon, 
delivered  May  31st,  1781,  before  John  Hancock,  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  Thomas  Cushing,  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  the 
Legislature  at  their  first  meeting  under  the  new  State  Con- 
stitution. 

The  general  form  of  Mr.  Clark's  papers  is  in  the  shape  of 
instructions  to  the  delegates  of  Lexington  to  the  Council  of 
Massachusetts.  This  gave  a  practical  purpose  to  his  writings. 
It  required  the  discussion  of  principles  followed  by  a  suggestion 
as  to  the  course  of  action  required  of  patriots  by  the  necessities 
of  the  crises.  They  were  called  forth  by  the  exigencies  of  the 
times  and  by  the  succession  of  oppressive  acts  of  parliament. 
They  are  therefore  of  historical  as  well  as  political  interest  and 
had  a  practical  application  at  the  time  they  were  written. 

The  first  of  the  series  of  Mr.  Clark's  papers  as  has  been 
said,  had  the  Stamp  Act  for  its  subject.  It  was  written  only 
seven  months  after  its  passage  and  is  a  calm  presentation  of  the 
rights  of  the  colonies.  He  rests  his  argument  on  British  law 
from  the  Great  Charter  of  June  15th,  1215  down  to  the  charter 
rights  as  they  existed  before  the  parliamentary  attempt  to  take 
them  away.  Mr.  Clark's  paper  was  entered  on  the  minutes  of 
the  town  of  Lexington,  as  a  permanent  record,  so,  to  use  his 
words,  "that  the  world  may  see  and  future  generations  know 


that  the  present  (generation)  both  know  and  value  the  rights 
they  enjoyed  and  did  not  tamely  resign  them  for  chains  and 
slavery."  He  urged  **as  far  as  consistent  with  allegiance  and 
duty  to  our  rightful  soverign,  such  measures  should  be  promoted 
as  would  preserve  the  invaluable  rights  and  liberties  we  at  present 
possess." 

There  are  other  pre-revolutionary  documents  with  which 
Mr.  Clark's  argument  may  be  compared.  There  is  James 
Otis'  pamphlet  "The  Rights  of  the  British  Colonies  Asserted 
and  Proved,"  a  popular  presentation  of  the  case  which  strength- 
ened the  desire  for  liberty  and  independence  greatly  among  a 
class  which  would  not  have  been  able  to  comprehend  the  learn- 
ing and  logic  of  Mr.  Clark.  Oxenbridge  Thatcher's  pamphlet, 
"The  Sentiments  of  a  British  American,"  was  also  exceedingly 
useful  in  promoting  the  popular  support  of  the  cause  of  the 
colonies,  but  it  is  light  weight  as  we  read  and  compare  it  with  Mr. 
Clark's  after  the  lapse  of  years.  "The  Declaration  and  Resolu- 
tion of  the  First  Continental  Congress,  October  14th,  1774,"  was 
a  rehearsal  of  historical  events  without  an  argument  based  on 
principles.  "The  late  Regulation  respecting  the  British  Col- 
onies," by  John  Dickenson,  December  7th,  1765,  was  a  good 
specimen  of  the  writings  of  this  voluminous  writer,  who  is  classed 
high  among  pre-revolutionary  thinkers.  It  contains  sentences 
which  must  have  been  powerful  at  the  time,  as  when  he  said: 
"The  reflections  of  the  colonies  on  these  melancholy  subjects 
are  not  a  little  embittered  by  a  firm  persuasion  that  they  never 
would  have  been  treated  as  they  are  if  Canada  still  continued  in 
the  hands  of  the  French.  Thus  their  hearts,  glowing  with  every 
sentiment  of  duty  and  affection  towards  their  Mother  Country, 
and  expecting,  not  unreasonably  perhaps,  some  mark  of  tender- 
ness in  return,  are  pierced  by  a  fatal  discovery  that  the  vigorous 
assistance  that  they  faithfully  afforded  her  in  extending  her 
domain,  has  only  proved  the  glorious  but  destructive  cause  of 
the  calamities  they  now  deplore  and  resent." 

Benjamin  Franklin's  writings  are  in  a  class  by  themselves. 
His  literary  style  is  a  model  and  it  is  easy  to  mark  in  his  Memoirs 
where  the  pen  falls  from  his  hand  and  is  taken  up  by  another. 
His  shrewdness  in  writing  for  a  British  audience  was  incomparable 
and  most  effective.  In  1760  he  wrote,  "It  is  said  that  the  de- 
velopment of  the  strength  of  the  colonies  may  make  them  more 
dangerous  and  bring  them  to  declare  their  independence.  But 
such  fears  are  chimerical.     So  many  causes  are  against  this  union 


that  I  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  it  is  not  only  improbable  but 
impossible — without  the  most  provoking  tyranny  and  op- 
pression." The  few  words  after  the  dash,  show  the  keenness 
of  his  vision,  and  we  can  imagine  a  slight  twinkle  in  his  eye  as 
he  penned  these  words,  for  the  oppressive  acts  had  not  as  yet 
entered  into  the  minds  of  Parliament. 

In  this  comparison  of  the  writings  of  Jonas  Clark  with 
those  of  others  which  have  come  down  to  us,  it  may  be  seen 
that  he  took  a  deeper  look  into  the  heart  of  the  questions  before 
the  colonies  than  did  others.  As  a  minister  instructs  his  flock, 
so  he  was  thinking  of  the  men  of  Lexington,  and  of  their  world 
record  and  was  preparing  them  for  scenes  which  were  soon  to 
be  enacted. 

Rev.  Jonas  Clark's  loyalty  to  the  Crown  was  consistent 
with  his  sentiments  when  he  wrote  his  protest  against  the  Stamp 
Act.  These  two  feelings  of  loyalty  and  criticism  found  expres- 
sion again  in  his  sermon  before  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
Artillery  Company,  delivered  June  6th,  1768,  being  the  131st 
anniversary  of  their  election  of  officers.  Those  anniversary 
sermons  have  been  continued  down  to  the  present  day,  but  it 
is  doubtful  if  Phillips  Brooks  or  any  of  the  other  illustrious  ser- 
monisers  who  have  addressed  that  body,  ever  stated  more  clearly 
or  in  better  terms  the  Christian  Doctrine  which  justifies  the 
preparation  for  war  than  did  Mr.  Clark.  His  argument  was 
intended  to  show  the  necessity  for  preparation  for  the  armed 
defence  of  the  liberties  and  rights  of  a  nation.  His  loyal  attitude 
towards  England  was  that  which  generally  prevailed  throughout 
the  colonies  at  that  time,  and  was  shown  when,  after  a  glowing 
description  of  a  virtuous  and  happy  people  he  said :  "Such  were 
the  character  and  state  of  God's  people  in  the  kindgom  of  Judah, 
and  such  was  Judah's  king,  (Jehoshaphat)  such  in  later  times 
has  Britain  been,  such  is  Britain  still,  and  such  is  Britain's  king, 
(George  the  Third)  and  such  God  grant  they  may  ever  continue 
to  be, — a  terror  to  their  enemies,  an  asylum  to  the  injured  and 
distressed,  a  sure  protection  for  liberty,  a  lasting  defence  to  the 
natural  and  common  rights  of  mankind.  To  these  purposes  and 
for  these  important  ends  the  Honorable  Artillery  Company  was 
formed  soon  after  the  settlement  of  the  country.  After  a  long 
series  of  hardships,  toils,  dangers  and  distresses  of  cruel  wars  with 
the  common  enemy  who  were  our  rivals  in  America,  and  the 
barbarous,  merciless  savages  whose  thirst  for  blood  and  revenge 

If 


has  always  been  insatiable,  through  the  smiles  of  heaven  we  see 
this  happy  land  in  a  state  of  peace  and  rest." 

Again  on  the  21st  of  March,  1768,  in  another  of  Mr.  Clark's 
papers  which  was  adopted  by  the  people  of  Lexington,  the  same 
union  of  conflicting  sentiments  is  to  be  noticed.  This  paper 
protested  against  the  acts  which  invaded  their  liberties,  and 
at  the  same  time  publicly  and  solemnly  acknowledged  "their 
firm  and  unshaken  allegiance  to  their  only  rightful  sovereign. 
King  George  the  Third,  the  lawful  successor  of  William  and 
Mary  to  the  throne."  Therefore  it  was  resolved  in  the  words 
of  Mr.  Clark  that  "the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of 
Lexington,  will  at  the  utmost  peril  of  their  lives  and  fortunes, 
take  all  legal  and  constitutional  methods  to  defend  and  maintain 
the  person,  family,  crown  and  dignity  of  our  said  Sovereign 
Lord,  King  George  the  Third,  and  all  and  singular  the  rights, 
privileges  and  immunities  granted  in  said  (our)  royal  charter, 
as  well  as  those  which  are  declared  to  be  belonging  to  us  as 
British  subjects  by  birthright,  as  all  others  therein  specially 
mentioned."  These  deliberations  were  followed  by  a  day  of 
prayer  and  fasting.  This  was  evidently  an  attempt  to  serve 
two  masters,  with  a  decided  leaning  towards  fighting  for  their 
charter  rights,  It  was  evident  that  the  time  was  soon  coming 
when  a  choice  of  masters  would  have  to  be  made. 

There  are  few  papers  of  greater  importance  among  Mr. 
Clark's  writings,  in  the  formation  of  public  opinion,  than  that 
called  "Declarations  and  Resolves,"  which  were  adopted  by 
the  people  of  Lexington  on  the  21st  of  September,  1768. 

His  argument  is  based  on  the  acts  of  Parliament  in  past 
centuries,  which  gave  indefeasible  rights  to  subjects  and  he 
claimed  full  rights  to  colonists  as  if  born  in  England.  He  proved 
that  the  recent  acts  of  Parliament  in  levying  money  for  the  use 
of  the  crown  and  in  maintaining  a  standing  army  in  time  of 
peace,  were  illegal.  There  is  little  said  of  loyalty  in  this  paper. 
It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Samuel  Adams  dated  his  first  thought  of 
independence  to  the  year  1768. 

In  a  paper  dated  December  31st,  1772,  he  again  describes 
the  rights  of  colonists  and  declares  they  were  greatly  injured  by 
measures  of  government  lately  adopted. 

At  a  town  meeting  held  January  5th,  1773,  a  document 
framed  by  Mr.  Clark  containing  instructions  to  Mr.  Jonas  Stone, 
representative  of  the  Town  of  Lexington,  was  submitted  and 
adopted,  which  closes  with  these  words,  "that  thus,  whether 

11 


successful  or  not,  succeeding  generations  might  know  that  we 
understood  our  rights  and  liberties  and  were  neither  afraid  or 
ashamed  to  assert  and  maintain  them,  and  that  we  ourselves 
may  have  at  least  the  consolation  in  our  chains,  that  it  was  not 
through  our  neglect  that  this  people  were  enslaved."  The  sub- 
missive spirit  of  this  document  shows  how  hard  the  colonists 
tried  to  preserve  their  loyal  attachment  to  Great  Britain.  It 
could  not  long  endure  under  the  exasperating  acts  of  Parliament. 

In  December,  1773,  Mr.  Glark  prepared  an  elaborate  paper 
which  opposed  the  tax  on  tea  as  a  matter  of  gross  partiality  to 
the  East  India  Company,  "to  support  task  masters,  pensioners 
and  others  in  idleness  and  luxury,"  and  as  a  direct  violation  of 
our  Charter  rights  and  liberties.  Therein  the  people  of  Lexing- 
ton pledged  themselves  not  to  receive,  buy,  sell  or  use  any  of  the 
teas  sent  out  by  the  East  India  Company. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1774,  a  vote  was  passed  and 
entered  on  the  town  records,  "to  favor  nothing  done  in  con- 
formity with  the  late  acts  of  Parliament."  The  break  here  with 
the  Mother  Country  was  definite  and  emphatic,  just  seven  months 
before  the  day  at  Lexington. 

These  papers  so  full  of  learning  and  patriotism,  were  an 
education  to  the  men  of  Lexington.  The  citizens  of  no  other 
town  were  so  well  instructed  in  their  rights  and  duties  for  God 
and  Country.  They  were  like  trained  gladiators  and  when  the 
hour  of  trial  came,  they  knew  their  duty  and  did  it.  It  was  Jonas 
Clark  who  had  trained  and  instructed  them. 

Pastor  Clark  had  good  material  to  work  on.  The  men  of 
Lexington  were  of  English  stock.  All  but  one  of  the  nineteen 
on  the  list  of  killed  and  wounded  at  Lexington  had  emigrant 
ancestors  who  arrived  in  this  country  on  or  before  1697  and  the 
emigrant  ancestors  of  all  but  three  came  over  within  the  Founder 
period  as  fixed  by  our  Order  of  Founders  and  Partiots. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  influx  of  English  during 
the  Founder  period  was  chiefly  of  men  who  came  into  this  wilder- 
ness to  worship  God  after  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience. 
In  the  time  between  1630,  when  King  Charles  the  First  dissolved 
his  Third  Parliament  and  1640,  when  under  compulsion  he  as- 
sembled the  Long  Parliament,  some  three  hundred  ships  arrived 
here  with  over  21,000  men,  women  and  children.  "Dissolution" 
says  Blackstone,  "is  the  civil  death  of  Parliament,"  and  the 
dissolution  of  the  Third  Parliament  by  the  King  was  taken  by 
the  Protestant  party  as  the  death  of  their  hopes  and  the  triumph 

12 


of  the  absolute  personal  government  of  Charles  the  First  and  the 
Romanists  whom  he  favored.  He  had  made  it  known  that  he 
would  never  call  another  Parliament  until  he  felt  certain  it 
would  do  his  pleasure. 

The  apparent  hopelessness  of  the  contest  with  the  King  and 
Romanism,  was  the  cause  of  the  Protestant  emigration  to  New 
England.  The  contest  in  England,  however,  went  on  under  the 
leadership  of  John  Pym,  the  first  parliamentary  leader  in  Eng- 
land, John  Hampden,  Oliver  Cromwell  and  others.  As  the  con- 
test progressed  in  that  interval  of  ten  years,  the  autocratic, 
personal  government  of  King  Charles  broke  hopelessly  down 
under  the  opposition  of  the  Puritans  and  the  strain  of  his  neces- 
sities. He  was  compelled  to  reconvene  a  parliament,  which 
was  called  the  Long  or  Free  Parliament.  This  confession  of 
weakness  on  the  part  of  King  Charles,  revived  the  hopes  of  the 
Puritans,  who  regarded  the  calling  of  the  Long  Parliament  as 
the  triumph  of  liberty  and  law  over  absolutism.  When  the 
Solemn  Remonstrance  was  adopted  by  Parliament,  Oliver 
Cromwell  said:  "Had  it  been  rejected,  I  would  have  sold  to- 
morrow all  I  possess  and  have  left  England  forever." 

Reanimated  by  repeated  parliamentary  victories,  the 
Protestant  emigration  to  New  England  ceased  and  a  return  flow 
commenced.  The  reason  for  the  emigration  to  this  country 
no  longer  existed.  "The  change"  said  Governor  John  Win- 
throp,  "made  all  men  stay  in  England,  in  expectation  of  a  new 
world." 

Alluding  to  the  sterling  character  of  these  Founders.  Rev. 
William  Stoughton,  afterwards  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Province,  said  in  his  Election  Sermon,  preached  in 
1668:  "God  sifted  a  whole  nation  that  he  might  send  choice 
grain  over  into  this  wilderness."  These  emigrants  left  the 
Mother  Country  with  their  principles  for  liberty  and  religion 
fixed  in  their  minds.  Their  descendants  were  not  brought  into 
contact  with  the  cavilier  revival  and  the  corruptions  of  the  court 
of  Charles  the  Second,  or  the  continued  attempts  at  aggression 
and  usurpation  of  power  by  the  throne  and  parliament.  The 
two  periods  of  English  history  which  stood  out  clearly  in  their 
minds,  were  the  wresting  of  the  Great  Charter  from  King  John 
in  1215  and  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary.  The  one 
established  the  rights  of  the  people  and  the  other  confirmed 
Protestantism  as  the  religion  of  England. 

The   descendants   of   these   Founders   were   the   men   the 

18 


British  soldiers  met  when  they  set  out  from  Boston  on  the  night 
of  the  18th  of  April,  1775,  to  destroy  the  military  stores  accumu- 
lated at  Concord.  The  young  pastor  at  Concord,  Rev.  William 
Emerson,  the  grandfather  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  was  like 
many  other  New  England  pastors,  firm  for  liberty  and  an  in- 
spiration for  courage. 

Lexington  was  a  subordinate  point  on  the  route  of  the 
British  troops.  There  was  no  call  to  make  a  stand  at  Lex- 
ington. Thereon  the  green,  the  British  soldiers  met  the  devoted 
band  of  Lexington  men.  At  Thermopylae  a  few  Greeks  stood  their 
ground  against  the  advancing  hosts  of  the  Persians,  and  a  reverent 
world  has  paid  homage  to  their  fortitude  ever  since.  There  was 
no  reference  to  Thermopylae  in  the  writings  of  Mr.  Clark,  but 
the  spirit  he  invoked  was  the  same  as  ruled  the  hearts  of  those 
heroic  Greeks.  These  "embattled  farmers"  were  trained  by  Mr. 
Clark  "to  maintain  and  defend  their  rights,  privileges  and 
immunities  at  the  utmost  peril  of  their  lives  and  fortunes." 
The  part  filled  by  Mr.  Clark  in  the  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
which  followed  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions  which  contain 
these  words,  is  not  recorded.  But  it  may  well  be  questioned 
whether  without  the  keen  intellect,  the  thorough  mastery  of 
the  principles  of  liberty,  the  faithful  instruction,  the  high  moral 
character,  the  personal  influence  and  the  ardent  temperament  of 
Jonas  Clark,  there  would  have  been  a  glorious  19th  day  of  April, 
1775,  at  Lexington. 

This  closes  the  series  of  papers  written  by  Mr.  Clark  before 
the  19th  of  April,  1775.  Their  tone  is  progressively  positive 
and  is  indicative  of  the  waning  of  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  Crown 
and  the  growth  of  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  independence,  a  change 
which  characterized  the  popular  sentiment  of  the  colonies. 

Charles  Hudson,  the  faithful,  accurate  and  eloquent  his- 
torian of  Lexington,  truly  says:  "So  fully  and  clearly  are  the 
grievances  under  which  our  fathers  labored  and  the  causes  which 
gave  rise  to  the  American  Revolution  set  forth  (in  Mr.  Clark's 
writings)  that  if  all  other  records  were  destroyed  and  all  recol- 
lections blotted  from  the  memory,  the  faithful  historian  could 
from  the  instructions  given  to  the  representatives  of  Lexington 
and  other  papers  found  on  our  records  emanating  from  the  pen 
of  Mr.  Clark,  trace  the  developments  of  oppression  from  year 
to  year,  and  state  the  true  causes  of  that  struggle." 

It  fell  to  Mr.  Clark,  as  the  pastor  of  the  Church  of  Lexing- 
ton to  preach  a  sermon  on  the  first  anniversary  of  the  battle  of 

14 


Lexington,  the  19th  of  April,  1776.  In  that  sermon  he  uses  these 
pathetic  words:  "At  the  close  of  the  last  war,  we  arrived  at 
that  happy  period  to  which  our  ancestors  looked  with  earnest 
anticipations  as  the  utmost  of  their  wishes,  as  the  answer  of 
their  prayers  and  the  reward  of  all  their  toils  and  sufferings. 
The  savages  were  subdued,  those  restless  neighbors,  the  French, 
were  subjected,  and  the  wide  extended  continent  seemed  to 
be  given  us  for  a  possession  and  we  were  ready  to  say,  'there 
was  none  to  make  us  afraid.*  But  how  uncertain  the  most 
blooming  prospects — How  vain — how  disappointing  the  most 
rational  as  well  as  raised  expectations  in  this  imperfect  state. 
Scarcely  emerged  from  the  dangers  and  fatigues  of  a  long  and 
distressing  war,  we  are  unexpectedly  involved  in  perplexities 
and  anxieties  of  a  different  kind,  which  by  degrees  have  increased, 
till  they  have  become  more  serious,  dangerous  and  depressing 
than  any  ever  yet  felt  by  God's  people  in  this  once  happy  land" 
"New  acts  are  passed  to  enslave  us.  The  lust  of  domination 
appears  no  longer  in  disguise,  but  with  open  face  the  starving 
Port  Bill  comes  forth.  Gage  arrives  with  his  forces  by  sea  and 
land  to  carry  it  into  execution  with  vigor  and  severity.  And 
to  complete  the  scene,  and  to  make  thorough  work  of  oppression 
and  tyranny,  immediately  follow  THE  BILLS  that  subvert 
the  Constitution,  vacate  our  charter,  abridge  us  of  the  right  of 
trial  by  juries  of  the  vicinity,  in  diverse  specified  capital  cases, 
and  expose  us  to  be  seized,  contrary  to  the  law  of  the  land,  and 
carried  to  England  to  be  tried  for  our  lives.  Also  the  bill  for 
establishing  the  popish  religion  in  Canada,  contrary  to  the  faith 
of  the  crown  and  the  statutes  of  the  Kingdom." 

This  sermon  was  preached  under  the  powerful  impressions 
which  the  opening  of  the  war  entailed.  It  was  a  cry  of  the  human 
soul,  trusting  in  the  over-ruling  providence  of  a  merciful  and 
loving  God,  and  seeking  to  nerve  his  hearers  and  wider  circle 
of  readers,  to  bear  up  bravely  under  their  burdens.  It  is  still 
appropriate  and  comforting  reading  to  anyone  in  anguish  under 
almost  overwhelming  calamities. 

It  is  a  dangerous  thing  to  prophesy,  but  in  this  sermon  Mr. 
Clark  uttered  a  prophecy  which  has  been  fulfilled.  His  prophecy 
is  in  these  words,  uttered  on  the  19th  day  of  April,  1776:  "But 
it  is  not  by  us  alone  that  this  day  is  to  be  noticed.  From  this 
ever  memorable  day  will  an  important  era  begin  both  for  America 
and  Britain.  And  from  the  19th  day  of  April,  1775,  we  may 
venture  to  predict,  will  be  dated  in  future  history  the  liberty  or 

15 


slavery  of  the  American  world,  according  as  a  Sovereign  God  shall 
see  fit  to  smile  or  frown  upon  the  interesting  cause  in  which  we 
are  engaged."  The  sentiment  of  these  words  contains  a  fore- 
gleam  of  Lincoln's  address  at  Gettysburg  and  is  not  unworthy 
to  be  compared  with  that  master-piece  of  eloquence. 

Mr.  Clark  rendered  another  service  to  American  history  by 
adding  to  his  sermon  the  most  complete  and  detailed  account  of 
the  occurrences  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  which  was  written 
by  an  eye  witness. 

On  October  21st,  1776,  a  few  months  after  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  Mr.  Clark  submitted  to  the  people  of  Lexing- 
ton, a  report  on  the  proposal  to  form  a  new  Constitution  for  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  as  the  old  colonial  charter  was  then  at 
an  end.  This  report  is  an  able  examination  of  the  question  and 
ends  with  a  recommendation  for  a  longer  and  further  discussion 
by  the  people  of  the  State,  "as  all  government  originates  from  the 
people."  This  reveals  the  definite  determination  of  the  people 
of  Massachusetts  never  to  return  again  to  the  old  order  of  things. 

In  1778,  a  tentative  Constitution  was  framed  and  submitted 
to  the  people  of  the  State,  which  drew  from  Mr.  Clark  a  learned 
paper  on  civil  government,  which  after  a  calm  and  full  considera- 
tion, ended  with  a  recommendation  that  the  matter  be  waived  for 
the  present  to  give  the  people  more  time  and  opportunity  to 
express  themselves. 

In  1779  the  people  of  Lexington,  with  great  wisdom  and 
propriety,  chose  Mr.  Clark  to  be  their  delegate  to  a  convention 
to  complete  the  work  on  the  Constitution.  Mr.  Clark,  though 
modest  and  retiring,  was  forced  to  the  front  as  the  most  suitable 
man  to  occupy  that  office  and  render  that  service.  When  the 
Constitution  in  completed  form  was  finaly  submitted  to  the 
people  of  the  State,  an  amendment  was  proposed  from  Lexing- 
ton, written  by  Mr.  Clark,  to  add  the  word  Protestant  to  the 
words  Christian  religion,  as  the  religion  of  the  State. 

After  the  Constitution  was  adopted  and  the  State  Govern- 
ment organized,  Mr.  Clark  was  invited  to  preach  the  Election 
Sermon,  which  according  to  its  title  page  was  preached  before 
John  Hancock,  Governor;  Thomas  Gushing,  Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor; the  Honorable  the  Council  and  the  Honorable  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, May  31st,  1781,  being  the  first  day  of  General 
Election  after  the  Commencement  of  the  present  Constitution 

16 


and  the  Inauguration  of  the  New  Government.  Mr.  Clark's 
writings  reached  their  culmination  in  this  sermon. 

Those  were  dark  days  for  the  colonists.  That  assemblage 
little  thought  that  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  was  so  near 
and  that  in  a  few  months  the  war  would  be  ended  in  triumph. 
In  that  sermon  all  the  fire,  invective,  eloquence,  learning,  patriot- 
ism and  religious  emotion  of  a  heart  that  had  borne  the  burden 
from  the  day  at  Lexington,  six  long  weary  years,  and  was  ready 
to  burst,  received  its  intensest  expression.  His  dignity  and 
seriousness  of  presence,  which  he  never  laid  aside,  and  his  em- 
phatic delivery  in  manner  and  voice,  found  their  fullest  exercise 
in  the  burning  words  of  this  sermon.  He  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  argument  in  the  principles  of  the  rights  of  man,  he  il- 
lustrated his  position  by  graphic  references  to  ancient  history, 
sacred  and  profane,  and  closed  with  an  impassioned  appeal  to 
continue  the  struggle. 

"O  my  fathers  and  brethren,  all,  all  is  yet  at  stake  All 
may  yet  be  lost,  if  we  rise  not  as  one  man  to  the  noble  cause. 
How  inglorious  must  it  be  to  fail  at  the  last.  Where  then  the 
pleasing  scenes  of  liberty  and  independence,  where  the  glorious 
foundations  of  safety  and  freedom  which  our  civil  constitution 
has  laid?  They  vanish — they  are  gone — they  are  lost  forever. 
Is  this  possible?  Can  it  be?  Forbid  it  righteous  Heaven, 
forbid  it  O  my  country." 

Soon  after  the  delivery  of  this  sermon  Washington  began 
his  last  campaign,  that  against  Lord  Cornwallis  His  move- 
ments eluded  the  British  at  New  York  and  by  the  timely  aid 
of  the  French  fleet,  he  mustered  an  overpowering  force  at  York- 
town,  against  which  Lord  Cornwallis  struggled  in  vain,  and  to 
which  he  finally  capitulated  on  the  19th  day  of  October,  1781, 
just  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago  today.  Then  the  prayer 
of  the  parson  at  Lexington  was  answered. 

In  1783,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Clark  wrote  the 
instructions  to  Benjamin  Brown,  representative  of  Lexington, 
in  the  General  Court.  This  paper  contained  a  full,  careful  and 
fair  statement  of  principles  at  issue  in  that  critical  period,  and 
recommends  the  forfeiture  of  the  estates  of  tories  who  had  fled 
from  the  country  in  its  time  of  greatest  need.  It  recommends 
action  to  restore  and  establish  the  credit  of  state  notes  and 
securities  and  the  raising  a  fund  to  pay  punctually  the  interest 
thereon.     It  recommends  economy  in  public  expenditures  and 

17 


the  encouragement  of  the  University  at  Cambridge  and  public 
schools  and  seminaries. 

This  ends  the  record  of  Mr.  Clark's  writings  on  subjects 
connected  with  the  war.  "Few  towns'  ,  says  Charles  Hudson, 
"are  able  to  furnish  from  their  records,  papers  as  numerous, 
elaborate  and  able  as  Lexington,  and  if  she  has  whereof  to  boast, 
nothing,  save  the  heroic  part  she  acted  on  the  19th  day  of  April, 
1775,  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  able  state  papers  which 
emanated  from  her  village  clergyman,  Rev.  Jonas  Clark." 

Mr.  Clark  continued  to  preach,  being  still  in  the  prime  of 
life,  as  he  was  born  December  1 1th,  1730.  That  his  sermons  were 
esteemed  is  evidenced  by  their  publication  down  to  1798.  His 
thoughts  in  the  last  years  of  his  life  were  occupied  with  his  parish 
work  and  his  sermons,  the  number  of  which  was  over  two 
thousand.  At  the  same  time  he  eked  out  his  scanty  salary  by 
the  care  of  his  farm,  which  by  industry  and  prudence  he  left  to 
his  family  at  his  death  free  of  encumbrance.  Mr.  Clark  died 
November  15th,  1805,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age  and 
the  fifty-first  of  his  continuous  ministry  at  Lexington. 

It  is  interesting  to  endeavor  to  trace  the  sources  of  the  in- 
formation and  theories  which  inspired  our  pre-revolutionary 
writers.  Roman  and  English  history  were  familiar  to  them. 
The  Bible  and  especially  the  Old  Testament  was  a  repository 
from  which  they  derived  divine  support  and  practical  precedents. 
Texts  unfamiliar  to  us,  were  used  by  them  with  great  effect  and 
frequency.  We  meet  often  the  quotation  from  Jeremiah,  30th 
chapter  and  21st  verse,  "Their  nobles  shall  be  of  themselves  and 
their  governor  shall  proceed  from  the  midst  of  them."  Their 
model  of  government  was  the  Jewish  theocracy,  which  involved 
a  government  by  judges  elected  by  the  people.  A  system  by 
which  judges  not  only  administer  laws  but  pass  on  the  con- 
stitutionality of  laws,  which  we  have  inherited  from  the  Jews, 
is  an  enthronement  of  the  national  conscience  in  its  right 
place  as  the  highest  power  of  the  government. 

Their  knowledge  of  law  was  increased  by  the  appearance 
of  Blackstone's  Commentaries  in  1764,  at  the  time  when  it 
could  be  of  the  greatest  assistance  in  the  discussions  which  were 
then  going  on.  The  book  was  said  to  have  sold  as  largely  in 
America  as  in  England. 

The  influence  on  pre-revolutionary  thought  of  Locke's 
Elssay  on  Government,  cannot  be  overestimated.  At  a  Con- 
ference of  Delegates  from  the  colonies  held  in  Philadelphia, 

18 


October  13th,  1774,  James  Manning,  President  of  what  is  now 
Brown  University,  invoked  the  great  authority  of  Locke  in  ad- 
vocating freedom  and  equaUty.  Hallam  in  his  Literature  in 
Europe  during  the  15th,  16th  and  17th  centuries,  after  giving 
a  full  analysis  of  Locke's  Treatise  on  Government,  adds  that 
the  treatise  became  the  creed  of  a  numerous  party  at  home, 
**  while  silently  spreading  the  fibres  of  its  roots  over  Europe  and 
America,  it  prepared  the  way  for  the  theories  of  political  society 
hardly  bolder  in  announcement,  but  expressed  with  more 
passionate  ardor,  from  which  the  great  revolutions  of  this  and 
the  last  age  have  sprung." 

Some  words  and  phrases  used  by  Locke  are  found  in  Mr. 
Clark's  sermon  of  1781.  For  example;  Original  compact. 
State  of  nature,  Free,  equal  and  independent.  Parallel  passages 
from  Mr.  Clark's  sermon  and  Locke's  Essay  regarding  the 
original  compact  of  society,  express  the  same  thought  though  not 
in  the  same  language. 

Locke's  words  regarding  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  con- 
stituted authority  describes  well  the  attitude  of  the  colonists. 
Discussing  resistance,  Locke  answers  the  monarchists  who  say 
the  people  must  not  attack  the  Prince.  They  must  not  for  any 
provocation  exceed  the  bounds  of  due  reverence  and  respect. 
For  an  inferior  t$  punish  a  superior  is  against  nature.  ''How 
to  resist  force",  Locke  says,  "without  striking  again,  or  how  to 
strike  with  reverence,  will  need  some  skill  to  make  intelligible. 
He  that  opposes  assault  only  with  a  shield  to  receive  blows,  or 
in  any  more  respectful  posture,  without  a  sword  in  his  hand  to 
abate  the  confidence  and  force  of  his  assailant,  will  quickly  be 
at  an  end  of  his  resistance  and  will  find  such  a  defence  to  serve 
only  to  draw  on  himself  a  worse  usage.  This  is  a  ridiculous  way 
of  resisting.  He  therefore  who  may  resist,  must  be  allowed  to 
strike  And  let  anyone  joyn  (sic)  a  knock  on  the  head  or  a  cut 
in  the  face  with  as  much  reverence  and  respect  as  he  sees  fit. 
He  that  can  reconcile  blows  and  reverence,  may  for  aught  I 
know,  deserve  for  his  pains  a  civil,  respectful  cudgeling  whenever 
he  can  meet  with  it."  The  colonists  profited  by  these  caustic 
remarks.  They  attempted  for  years  to  maintain  loyalty  while 
suffering  from  the  acts  of  Parliament,  but  at  last  they  found  that 
if  they  resisted  at  all,  they  must  strike. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  no  trace  of  Rousseau  is  to  be  found 
in  the  writings  of  Mr.  Clark,  and  perhaps  not  in  the  writings 
of  any  of  the  pre-revolutionary  thinkers.     Clark  and  Rousseau 

19 


both  drew  their  inspiration  from  Locke's  Essay  on  Government, 
and  what  general  similarity  there  may  appear  between  them  is 
due  to  their  common  source.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  Clark 
or  Rousseau,  independent  of  Locke,  their  great  predecessor 

It  is  profitable  for  us  in  this  day  and  generation  to  attempt 
to  reproduce  in  our  mind's  eye  the  scenes  and  events  which  led  up 
to  the  formation  of  our  republic,  as  we  have  done  in  this  dis- 
cussion. Are  we  not  impressed  with  one  thought,  that  these 
Founders  and  Patriots  had  but  one  purpose,  and  it  should  actuate 
us  as  completely  as  it  did  them  in  the  revolutionary  days,  that 
perversions  of  government,  whether  by  kings  and  parliaments 
or  machines  and  bosses,  or  demagogues  and  false  social  leaders, 
must  be  withstood  and  overcome  "at  the  utmost  peril  of  our 
lives  and  fortunes." 

THEODORE  OILMAN. 

New  York,  September  21st,  1911. 


so 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  SOCIETY  OF  THE  ORDER  OF 
THE  FOUNDERS  AND  PATRIOTS  OF  AMERICA. 

1.  "The  Settlement  of  New  York,"  by  George  Rogers  Howell,  March 

18,  1897. 

2.  "The  Battle  of  Lexington,"  by  Hon.  John  Winslow,  May  13,  1897. 

3.  "George  Clinton,"  by  Col.  R.  E.  Prime,  December  15,  1902. 

4.  "Washington,  Lincoln  and  Grant,"  by  Gen.  James  Grant  Wilson, 

April  6,  1903. 

5.  "Early  New  York,"  by  Hon.  Robert  B.  Roosevelt,  January  15,  1904. 

6.  "Thomas  Hooker,  The  First  American  Democrat,"  by  Walter  Seth 

Logan,  February  19,  1904. 

7.  "Early  Long  Island,"  by  Hon.  Wm.  Winton  Goodrich,  March  16,  1904. 

8.  "Banquet  Addresses,"  May  13,  1904. 

9.  "The  Philippines  and  The  Filipinos,"  by  Maj.  Gen.  Frederick  D. 

Grant,  December  10,  1904. 

10.  "Some  Social  Theories  of  the  Revolution,"  by  Theodore  Gilman, 

January  31,  1905. 

11.  "Banquet  Addresses."  May  13,  1905. 

12.  "The  Story  of  the  Pequot  War,"  by  Thos.  Egleston,  LL.  D.,  Ph.  D., 

December  15,  1905. 

13.  "Distinctive  Traits  of  a  Dutchman,"  by  Col.  John  W.  Vrooman, 

February  23,  1906. 

14.  "An  Incident  of  the  Alabama  Claims  Arbitration,"  by  Col.  Ralph 

E.  Prime,  March  23,  1906. 

15.  "Banquet  Addresses  and  Memoir  of  Hon  Robert  B.  Roosevelt," 

May  14,  1906. 

16.  "Constitution,  By-Laws  and  Regulations  of  the  Order,  and  List 

of  Members  of  the  General  Court,  with  By-Laws,  and  List 
of  Members  of  the  New  York  Society,"  November  1,  1906. 

17.  "Some  Municipal  Problems  that  Vexed  the  Founders,"  by  Rev. 

Wm.  Reed  Eastman,  December  14,  1906. 

18.  "A  Vanished  Race  of  Aboriginal  Founders,"  by  Brig.  Gen.  Henry 

Stuart  TurriU,  U.  S.  A.,  February  14,  1907. 

19.  "List  of  Officers  and  Members  of  the  New  York  Society,"  Novem- 

ber 15,  1907. 

20.  '*The  Hudson  Valley  in  the  Revolution,"  by  Francis  Whiting  Halsey, 

December  13,  1907. 

21.  "American  Territory  in  Turkey;  or  Admiral  Farragut's  Visit  to 

Constantinople  and  the  Extra- territoriality  of  Robert  Col- 
lege," by  Ralph  E.  Prime,  LL.D.,  D.  C.  L.,  February  14,  1908. 

22.  "Banquet  Addresses,"  May  13,  1908. 

23.  "Some  Things  the  Colony  of  North  Carolina  Did  and  Did  First 

in  the  Founding  of  English-Speaking  America,"  by  Wil- 
liam Edward  Fitch,  M.  D.,  December  11,  1908. 

24.  "Colonial  Legends  and  Folk  Lore,"   by  Hon.  John  C.   Coleman, 

January  20,  1910. 

25.  "The  Origin,  Rise  and  Downfall  of  the  State  of  Franklin,  Under 

Her  First  and  Only  Governor — John  Sevier,"  by  William  Ed- 
ward Fitch,  M.  D.,  March  11,  1910. 

26.  "Proceedings  on  the  Dedication  of  the  Tablet  Erected  to  the  New 

York  Society  of  the  Order  of  the  Founders  and  Patriots 
of  America,  on  the  Site  of  Fort  Amsterdam  at  the  United 
States  Custom  House,  New  York  City,"  September  29,  1909. 

27.  "Banquet  Addresses,"  May  13,  1910. 

28.  "Commodore  Isaac  Hull  and  the  Frigate  Constitution,"  by  Gen. 

James  Grant  Wilson,  D.  C.  L.,  October2g,  1910. 

29.  "Some  Aspects  of  the  Constitution,"  by  Joseph  Culbcrtson  Clayton, 

December  14,  1910. 

30.  "Early  Colonial  Efforts  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Indians,"  by 

Rev.  Edward  Pavson  Johnson,  D.  D„  February  14,  1911. 

31.  "Rev.  Jonas  Clark,' Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Lexington  during  the 

Revolution,   Leader  of  Revolutionary  Thought,"     by    Theo- 
dore Gilman,  October  19,  1911. 


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